On February 9, the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs held a conference with the ethnic press aimed at educating the immigrant communities about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Statistical data were presented, indicating that after English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German and French are the most commonly spoken languages in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. However, the data didn't include the Polish language.

A day after the conference, Consumer Affairs apologized to the Polish community, after Nowy Dziennik looked into the matter. The paper wanted to cooperate with Polish institutions in order to educate low-income immigrants about the Earned Income Tax Credit.

In addition, after Nowy Dziennik brought up the error in the data, Consumer Affairs sent all the conference attendees new data, correcting the mistake, which indicated 12,895 Greenpoint residents speak Polish.

"I apologize for the misunderstanding," Pauline A. O’Toole, assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, said in an email.

"It was a simple mistake. No one from our administration thinks that there aren't any Poles in New York City," Rachael Ravnoff of the New York City Department of City Planning, which generated the data, reassured Nowy Dziennik.

But, an unfortunate mistake can also have positive consequences. O’Toole, in her interview with Nowy Dziennik, has expressed great interest in a partnership with the Polish Slavic Federal Credit Union (P-SFUK).

P-SFUK Director Alicja Malecka expressed her interest in an initiative to educate immigrants about the benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit, New York residents save approximately $1.5 billion annually, estimates Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who holds patronage over the initiative of propagating EITC. Individuals as well as families may apply for EITC as long as their income meets certain requirements (Income cannot be greater than $11,750 per individual and $37,263 per family with two children).

Applicants for the Earned Income Tax Credit have to have a valid Social Security number. According to the Consumer Affairs data, over half of the 16,000 households in Greenpoint make less than $35,000 annually. In the previous years 3,300 taxpayers have applied for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Consumer Affairs estimates that in this Polish neighborhood another 1,300 households would be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.